Michael Harris, 77 and retired, often spends a lot of the summer season tenting within the forests round Flagstaff.
Flagstaff Metropolis Council didn’t transfer ahead a request to repeal town’s public tenting ordinance, agreeing as a substitute to have a bigger dialogue on homelessness and tenting inside metropolis limits at a future assembly.
Council’s most up-to-date dialogue on city tenting Tuesday evening was prompted by a citizen petition pushing Council to “decriminalize unsheltered residents,” and, extra particularly, asks to repeal the portion of metropolis code that makes tenting on public property unlawful.
Mayor Paul Deasy, together with different councilmembers, stated the request was too slim in scope, suggesting there have been different options past repealing the ordinance.
“We have to have a broad perspective,” Deasy stated. “We want a full plan. We have to handle our unsheltered way over only one single regulation.”
Deasy linked the present dialogue to an ongoing metropolis effort to implement another response heart within the metropolis. The mayor additionally advised that funding from the American Rescue Plan, set for metropolis council dialogue on Sept. 7, might play a job in offering assist.
The conversations surrounding city tenting come on the heels of a turbulent summer season of wildfire exercise close to Flagstaff, which noticed surrounding nationwide forest lands endure a full closure for 2 weeks.
As forest restrictions are imposed, town usually sees an uptick in displaced forest dwellers transferring their tenting tools inside metropolis limits.
